“The true gardener has abiding faith and must express it, if only by planting an acorn where the “Genius loci” calls for an oak. Better still is some imprint of ourselves in imperishable wall, in steps of stone, in terrace that will be but more beautiful if the neglect of centuries overtakes it perchance.

Then will our sound satisfaction lie not in showy flowers, not in exquisite details of the moment, but in knowledge that the charm which has been discovered, the genius of the place which has been revealed and adorned, is safe for all time, a gift to the future more lovely then than even we can now dream”

Fletcher Steele, “The Appeal to the Intelligence” (Essay collection Rochester Historical society)